This report first goes into detail about the two key infrastructure
elements needed for smart communities, high-speed telecommunications
infrastructure and smart grids. Special attention is give to
developments in M2M (Internet of Things) and the potential role of
artificial intelligence. It describes the developments that are taking
place internationally and in Australia. It also highlights the role of
both federal and local government and key elements of smart communities,
such as ehealth, e-education, e-government, smart transport and smart
cars. In addition it addresses policy issues needed to move these
developments further and explains how this will have an effect on the
social and economic developments of local communities, and indeed on the
country as a whole.

The concept of smart communities is based on intelligent infrastructure
such as broadband (FttH) and smart grids, so that connected and
sustainable communities can be developed. However, before these smart
communities can be built, trans-sector policies and strategies need to
be developed.

This report discusses and provides examples of some of the developments
taking place around the world towards building smart cities and
communities.

The Internet of Things' - other names used include: M2M, Pervasive
Internet and Industrial Internet - is going to be a real game-changer.
It will transform every single sector of society and the economy and it
will be out of this environment that new businesses - and indeed new
industries - will be born. This is one of the reasons so many overseas
ICT companies are increasing their presence in Australia. The NBN is an
ideal test-bed for such developments. A great deal of attention is being
paid to cloud computing and the NBN can be viewed as one gigantic cloud.

The number of connected M2M devices will grow to somewhere between 25
million and 50 million by 2020. From a very low level the market will
double again in 2012 and this will most likely also be the case in 2013.

Meet Your Big Data Storage Needs: CoraidAs businesses collect more and more data, they will require storage capabilities that are easily and secure, accessible, and quickly scalable for pure storage as well as data analytics.

Managing Your Data and Apps in Multi-Cloud Environments: Right ScaleBusinesses have reached beyond education and are starting to make signifcant cloud computing deployments, which means they need an awareness of public and private resources, which to deploy in what instances, and how to manage and maintain applications across both domains.

Enabling Cross-border Data Center Connectivity: InterxionOne of the challenges for multinational enterprises is establishing connectivity between infrastructure located on different continents. The Transatlantic Data Center Alliance helps overcome many of these challenges, including regulatory and compliance needs.